A lock similar to that proposed by the present invention has not so far been proposed, designed, manufactured or made commercially available.
A large variety of locks are used with sliding door and window frames, aiming at locking the sliding door/window panel into a facing part located within the frame.
A most common type of frame amongst aluminium frames is that which in the region wherein the sliding door/window panel locks is provided with a protruding and vertically extending part of the frame profile which penetrates into a front opening of the vertically extending part of the profile of the sliding door/window panel, which consists of parallel walls and ends to a rear opening wherein a glass or shutter panel is fitted. An internal or external lock can be alternatively used with this type of frame/sliding panel profiles.
The internal lock has the form of a hook, pin, or other similar locking means which, when being activated by a lock operating device, penetrates into a respective, suitably shaped facing part attached to the above mentioned vertically protruding main body of the frame which penetrates into the front opening of the profile of the sliding door/window panel. This technique of locking does not provide a great degree of security as the lock can be forged by violent exertion of pressure at the locking area or by slightly raising the sliding door/window panel.
On the other hand, an external lock has been proposed consisting of a hook profile attached onto a small plate at the external surface of the sliding door/window panel and pushed by a spring into a hooking position into a hook profile of the facing part which has a corresponding length and is attached onto the frame profile. This type of external lock may extend in length and hence provide for increased security, however causes an aesthetic degradation of the sliding door/window panel, due to the addition of the hook profile in the external view of the assembly, whereas it is still possible (though far more difficult) to forge the lock by exerting pressure along the length of locking. Another disadvantage of this technique is that the lock comes automatically to the locking position as the sliding door/window panel is shut, due to the oppositely cut oblique cross section of the hook into the sliding door/window panel and the hook in the facing part, thus leading to undesired locking outside the space, e.g. outside, in the balcony, as the lock can only be disengaged from the interior side of the door/window panel.
The object of the present invention is to advantageously overcome the disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art and to provide an internal lock for the sliding door/window panel, featuring the characteristics of the abovementioned type of external lock, i.e. with the configuration of the hook profile.
The present invention, however, presents an absolutely discrete and independent part of the hooking mechanism with a hook profile of and a respective facing part profile and a locking mechanism of the profile in locked position, wherein this division of the lock of the invention into two parts results in the hooking region being at a certain, predetermined distance from the locking region, thereby presenting an increased resistance should pressure be exerted for forging the lock, as the exertion of such pressure which may force the rotating hook profile to a rotation in a particular unhooking direction as exerted in the hooking region, however leads to the exertion of counter pressure towards rotation in a direction where the discrete locking mechanism acts.
Another object of the invention is to offer the ability of an automatically rotating hook profile, both when the sliding door/window panel is shut, as well as when it opens and comes to the unlocking position, thus eliminating the case of the user being undesirably locked outside the space intended to be locked by the lock assembly of the invention. This ability is effected with a special arm of the hook profile, which, when touching upon the frontal surface of the vertical element of the frame profile which penetrates the sliding door/window panel can operate as a lever initiating the rotation of the hook profile in the hooking direction, whilst the sliding door/window panel moves in the locking position, without an interference of the user who only interferes in the process of activating the abovementioned locking mechanism which maintains the lock in the locked position.
Another object of the invention is to offer a variety of design variations of the combination of the hook profile inside the profile of the sliding door/window panel and of the profile of the facing part, either for one-sided locking with the rotating hook profile fitted in one wall of the profile of the sliding door/window panel or for two-sided locking with a pair of hook profiles fitted onto the two opposite walls of the profile of the sliding door/window panel. With the proposed solution of two-sided locking it is evident that the security offered by the lock increases.
Another object of the invention is to offer the ability of usage of independent profiles of plates, which can be attached both onto the internal walls of the sliding door/window panel profile, upon which the hook profile can be attached and rotated so that the invention may be applied to a series of different door/window panel profiles which do not feature such a provision, as well as onto the facing part of the frame panel for meeting the operational requirements of the lock assembly of the invention.
Another object of the invention is to offer the ability of using alternative embodiments of locking (immobilising) mechanisms of the proposed lock assembly of an automatically rotating hook profile in the locked position, amongst which there is proposed a locking mechanism which can convert easily and directly the direction of rotation of the locking tongue so that the same locking mechanism can be applied onto door/window panels sliding to the left or to the right.
Another object of the invention is to propose a sliding door/window panel profile, suitable for the reception of the hook profile and a corresponding frame profile suitable for shaping a correspondingly shaped receiving means of the facing part of the lock assembly of the invention, as well as the combination of such profiles of sliding door/window panel and frame profiles with alternative embodiments of locking (immobilising) mechanism of the proposed lock with automatically rotating hook profile in the hooking position, where all the above form a new series of sliding aluminium profile panels, principally characterized by the automatic door/window panel opening and shutting.
These and other advantages, objectives and characteristics of the present inventions will become evident in the detailed description of particular preferred embodiments of the invention.